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Mitchell White: Lots of First Class
Growing up in the Bay Area, Mitchell White grew up a Giants fan but had Dodger Blue running through his family’s veins. Whites’ grandpa moved to the United States in the late 1960’s and immediately became a huge Dodgers fan and his uncle Jay is a huge baseball fan as well. His uncle Jay and his Grandpa would watch the Dodgers play every night, and got to share their love of the Boys in Blue and the great game of baseball together. Then, in 2016, Mitchell was drafted in the 2nd round by the Dodgers out of Santa Clara and a family Dream had Come True .
Although his grandpa had passed away a couple years earlier his Uncle Jay has gotten to enjoy watching his 6’4 nephew play in some of the most cherished venues in all of baseball and for the team he grew up watching with his dad. White’s grandma is close enough where she can come watch her grandson pitch on the biggest stage of all, the MLB, and in L.A. as well. Needless to say, it has been one really cool experience for everyone in Whites family.
From Prep to Pro
White grew up playing baseball, but didn’t get overly serious about it until his prep school days at Bellarmine College Preparatory in the San Jose area. After graduating from Bellarmine, the oldest school in California, he took his talents to one of the oldest colleges in California, Santa Clara University.
At Santa Clara things started out slowly for the Bellarmine grad, as White had Tommy John surgery in his first fall of College baseball which forced him to redshirt during his first season. Being versatile in terms of the type of role he is asked to perform is nothing new for White as he started out as a reliever at Santa Clara, then transitioned to becoming a starter in his Redshirt Sophomore year.
White was the Friday night starter for the Broncos in his Redshirt Sophomore year and had 118 strikeouts to just 27 walks in 92 innings in 2016. His performance had made him a bigtime prospect and the Dodgers drafted him in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft with the 65th overall pick. The tall Bay Area native had become the 2nd highest Santa Clara draft pick in the history of the school in terms of the round he was selected in and the first to be drafted in the first 2 rounds since Greg Gohr in 1989.
Becoming a Dodger
Dealing with injuries and the stressful life of Professional baseball, White has learned to approach the game with an even keel. He was put on a fairly fast track early in his professional career and got off to a quick start as he was promoted to high A Rancho Cucamonga in the same year he got drafted in 2016. He entered his first full year of professional ball, 2017, ready to keep moving up.
That’s when the injury bug hit again, and in June of that year, 2017, White was put on the DL and then sent to the Arizona League Dodgers on a rehab assignment. But, he bounced right back and by the very next month, July, the fast tracked right hander was promoted again and this time to AA Tulsa where he finished the 2017 season. But, after a fast start in promotions, things slowed down for White as he spent all of 2018 in AA Tulsa as well.
In the following Spring, the Spring of 2019, 7 of Whites first 8 starts were still with AA Tulsa and the injury bug bit him again. During the 2019 season White was placed on the DL 3 different times, but he fought through it to compile a total of 93.2 innings with an ERA of 5.09.
Just as things looked like they were in neutral, the Dodgers selected his contract over the winter between 2019 and 2020 and his option years calendar had begun. At the beginning of 2020 he was optioned to AAA OKC, then when the Minor League season got cancelled, he spent his time at the Alternate Training site. White stayed at the Alternate Training Site until he got the call he had always been waiting for on August 1st as he was called up to L.A.
From August 1st of 2020 to the end of that season White would be optioned and recalled or activated 5 different times.
In 2021 things have been even more hectic for White as he started this Spring at the Alternate Site, has been put on the Injured list once, got placed in AAA OKC in March and has been up and down with L.A. 10 times.
Despite all that travel, White has been off the charts good in AAA OKC posting a miniscule 1.65 ERA in 43.2 innings in the hitter friendly AAA West division. AAA West has locations like Albuquerque, Salt Lake, Reno and Las Vegas where the ball really travels because of the altitude, so a 1.65 ERA is nothing short of remarkable.
During his time in L.A. in 2021, White has been very good too posting a 3.66 era in 46.2 innings pitched.
It is 2652 miles round trip from L.A. to OKC, so to think that White has been optioned and recalled 10 different times, and has been as effective as he has, having traveled that many miles, is impressive. Obviously not every recall has been directly from OKC, but the point to be made is that he has traveled thousands of miles, has had to be on call at basically all times, and has handled 2021 beautifully. Not only has he not known where he is going to be from day to day, he hasn’t even known what role he is going to be in. He has started games, opened games, been long relief then also been a 1 inning guy as well. He has shown the ultimate amount of flexibility and versatility in carving out his role with the World Series champion Dodgers.
4 Pitches Possible
Mitchell White is a guy that, if used in a starter role, could eventually have 4 pitches that he relies on. At the moment he is able to rely on his fastball slider and 12-6 curveball. He has a change up but is not able to control it as well as his other 3 pitches, so he throws it every now and then but not consistently.
His fastball ranges from 93 to 96 and he commands both sides of the plate with it and locates it both up and down in the zone. Here is his 4 seam “get me over” fastball he uses to get ahead in the count with.
He can also add some run to his fastball to get it to move in on the hands of right handed hitters
White will set hitters up by throwing his fastball away
Then he’ll come up and in with it to induce a swing and miss or weak contact jam shot.
To keep hitters off balance White uses his slider in a couple different ways. He can spin it and locate it just enough to maximize the pitches strike efficiency in what I call a “get me over”
Or he can start the pitch over the plate then move it away from right handers to induce an early swing and rollover
Or he can start it on the outer half of the plate and break it off the plate for a swing and miss.
His curveball has the ability to be a wipeout pitch with the amount of break and downward bite he has with it. He can choke up on it to make sure and throw it for a strike like in this video.
Or he can really put the hammer behind it and get a lot of bite to entice a lot of swing and miss.
Moving Forward
Mitchell White was a high draft pick for a reason, and although his rise through the system hit somewhat of a plateau, he has every tool needed to help the Dodgers for a long time. He can throw strikes with 3 pitches, can also add a hammer to those pitches to induce strike outs and he is versatile in his roles. As a 3 pitch strike thrower, White can open games, start games, be long relief, or just simply fill an inning. Over 162 games with injuries like the Dodgers have seen this year, that type of versatility is valuable, especially when it comes with the stuff White has. Having had the chance to talk to White, then also watching him several times in OKC, he is one that definitely makes you root for him because he is first class. Hopefully someday he won’t have to ride first class near as much as that will mean he has stuck with L.A.
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Evan Phillips: Back Up and in L.A.
Perseverance is quite possibly the most necessary trait for any young player that chooses to make a life in Professional baseball. Between unknown injuries to competing in the ultra competitive world of MInor League baseball, the players that have the most perseverance are the most likely to make it to the other side and end up on a Major League roster.
Once You Made It
Once a player has made the Major Leagues, that’s just the beginning of their competitive journey. There’s a saying in life that “it’s easier to get to the top than it is to stay on top” and that holds true for many, many Major League baseball players.
Once a player reaches the Big Leagues, every other player in that organization that plays their position is gunning to replace them. There are some Major Leaguers that sign for so much money that they have enough equity to hold on during the tough patches, but many Major Leaguers can’t, and for those players every day is a battle to keep their job.
Phillips Character
Evan Phillips is a guy that has shown that he has that needed trait known as perseverance, and, because of it, he’s still pitching on a Major League roster. Phillips was drafted out of Clayton High School in North Carolina in the 33rd round, but chose instead to go to college and become a UNC Wilmington Seahawk and play close to home.
College was a perfect spot for the Angular right hander as Phillips loved the campus at UNC Wilmington, and he had a plan to use his College degree as a backup in case his playing days came to an end before he wanted them to. Phillips was going to major in Business-Management, and if he didn’t make the Major Leagues on the field, he had plans to someday become a General Manager in the Front Office of a Major League team.
Baseball was in his blood and he was going to build a successful life around it one way or the other. And, living by the motto that if you fall 9 times, you have to get up 10, Phillips set his goals and was almost certainly destined to reach them.
UNC Wilmington to Pro
As a Junior at UNC Wilmington the right hander threw 51.1 innings and pitched well enough to get drafted again, but this time in the 17th Round by the Atlanta Braves, and so his professional journey had begun.
The very next Spring Phillips found himself back home in North Carolina playing A Ball for the Carolina Mudcats. 2 months later, in June of 2016, the Carolina native became a Carolina League All Star, then got promoted to AA and was assigned to the Mississippi Braves where he finished out the 2016 season.
In the next year, 2017, Phillips broke camp with the AA Mississippi Braves again, but got called up to AAA Gwinnett at the end of May where he spent the rest of the year. Well, except for a 3 day diversion with no official appearances with the Class A Florida Fire Frogs.
Then, in June of the next year, 2018, Phillips’ dreams came true as his contract was selected by Atlanta and his 3 years of options were officially on the clock. On July 3rd the former UNC Wilmington Seahawk found himself standing on the mound of Yankee stadium and staring down the barrel of the New York lineup. The North Carolina native threw 2.1 innings in his debut and his Major League career had launched.
Phillips would make 3 more appearances for Atlanta in July but then got introduced to the duties of the Front Office, a job he once studied for, as he got traded to the Baltimore Orioles. With the Orioles he made 4 appearances in August of 2018, and that’s when the reality must have sunk in of how hard pitching in the the MLB was going to be. Phillips threw a total of 3.1 innings giving up 8 runs with an ERA of 21.60 for that Month with Baltimore in the MLB, and in his 1 outing in September he gave up 3 earned runs in 2 innings pitched. So reality had surely sunk in that staying in the MLB was going to be the ultimate test of toughness.
Perseverance
In March of 2019, with 2 option years remaining, Phillips was optioned back down to Norfolk and had 1 appearance in AAA before being recalled to Baltimore again in April. The former Clayton HIgh School Comet then showed his resilience as he bounced back from the rough end to 2018 and had a good beginning of 2019 by posting a 3.60 ERA in 10 innings pitched.
Despite having a very solid April Phillips was optioned back down again on May 10th and would be optioned and recalled 9 more times the rest of 2019.
2021 saw Phillips throw 14.1 innings with Baltimore and in those appearances he had a 5.02 ERA and after 18 AAA appearances he was released by Norfolk and was looking for work. Phillips got picked up by Tampa Bay but only with a Minor League contract and he was assigned to Durham. After 2 appearances with the legendary Bulls Phillips was called up to Tampa on August 12th, pitched against Minnesota on the 13th, but was then Designated for Assignment the next day.
So, the resilient Carolina native was put on waivers which is where the Dodgers acquired him and he has been in L.A. since then. With L.A. he has thrown 10.1 innings allowing just 4 earned runs in those innings.
Phillips Stuff
Phillips is a guy that, if needed to extend longer, could be a 3 pitch pitcher. But, with the limited amount of time he has to settle in by usually only getting an inning, he has had to rely mainly on his 4 seam fastball and his slider. His split finger is a pitch that moves a lot, to the point where he has a hard time controlling it, so it seems as if it is hard for him to trust that pitch a whole lot when he knows he’s only going to get an inning or so.
As a result he has turned his slider into 3 different pitches to give the hitters enough variety to keep them off balance.. He can throw his slider as a get me over
He can throw it to lefties with more downward bite to treat it like a backfoot pitch.
Or he can simply get it to dive down and away from right handers to induce swing and miss strike outs.
Phillips also has a 4 seam fastball that is 93-96 that he uses to maximize strike efficiency.
Then he throws it up in the zone to take advantage of the spin rate of the pitch to get swing and miss strike outs
Conclusion
The Dodgers have a lot of guys that sign for a lot of money, and then they also have enough money to get guys like Turner and Scherzer at the trade deadline as well. But, it can’t be underestimated how good of a job the organization has done in finding guys like Evan Phillips, plugging them in and then finding success with them as they help the club.
Evan Phillips is a talented baseball player, else he wouldn’t have made it to the MLB. But it’s his perseverance and mental toughness that has helped him get up everytime he has gotten knocked down and now he’s standing in LA.
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AA Tulsa Drillers Season in Review
The AA Tulsa Drillers have racked their bats for another season and it was one that saw a bunch of the highest rated prospects perform at very high levels.
The Drillers had 4 of the Dodgers top 10 prospects and 6 of the organization’s top 15 and that’s even after Ryan Pepiot and Andre Jackson got moved to AAA. Once Pepiot got moved up, the highest rated prospect was Michael Busch
Michael Busch
Michael Busch came to the Dodgers from the University of North Carolina and was a 1st round pick in the 2019 draft. While Busch had a slow start, his finish to the season was nothing short of remarkable. After a decent start in May, things went pretty sideways for the Tar Heel infieder in June as he hit .173, had no homeruns, had just 1 RBI, and struck out 29 times in 75 at bats.
After going 0 for 3 in his first game in July, Busch’s average was all the way down to .217. But as the weather heated up, so did his bat.. In the rest of the month the Tar Heel 2nd baseman hit .300 and had 8 multi hit games which was almost twice as many as he had in May and June combined.
Although August was a fairly modest month, the #3 Dodger prospect had a September to Remember. In September, Busch hit .413 and had 6 multi hit games in the 13 games the Drillers played in September. If you add in the last 2 games of August, Busch had 8 multi hit games in his last 15 games played.
Busch is a right side infielder that played mostly 2nd base but also played 1st, so the Dodgers are trying to create the versatility in him that they like in their players.
Bobby Miller
Bobby Miller was drafted in the first round and ended the year as the #4 ranked prospect in the Dodgers organization. He was brought up in September to AA and it did not take him long to create a buzz as his 2nd pitch in AA registered 99 mph.
In 9 ⅓ innings with AA Tulsa he had 14 strikeouts to only 2 walks and will remind Dodger fans a lot of Walker Buehler in the way looks and pitches. Miller has 4 pitches but relies mainly on his fastball and slider. He has a changeup and is in the process of mastering a cutter but those 2 pitches are not as developed as his fastball and slider.
Miguel Vargas
Miguel Vargas is the #6 prospect in the Dodgers organization and was acquired by the Dodgers in the 2017 International free agent signing period out of Cuba. He was brought up to AA Tulsa on June 17 and became a model of consistency and excellence. He hit .300 or better in 3 of the 5 months of action, and hit .293 and .292 respectively in June and July, the only months he didn’t hit at least .300
While the right handed hitting slugger was ultra consistent, he also had an August that was just simply off the charts. In August Vargas hit .410 with an OPS of 1.090 and had 15 multi hit games of the 26 games played. He also had 3 hits in a game on 4 different occasions in August as well.
Vargas won the AA hitting crown with a .319 average and did so by being a complete hitter. His pull percentage and oppo % were close to identical as he pulled the ball 39.2% of the time and went oppo 35% of the time. He uses the opposite field as well as anyone I have seen.
Landon Knack
Landon Knack is the Dodgers #8 prospect and came to the Dodgers from Middle Tennessee State after being drafted in the 2nd round of the 2020 draft.
Knacks fastball ranges from 93-96 and he has 2 shaped breaking balls. His 12-6 shaped breaking ball sits at 83-85 and his “3-9” shaped slider sits at 86-88. Knack also features a change up that sits in the low 80’s and it is a very effective pitch because it looks identical to his fastball coming out of his hand.
Knack was featured on Dodger Poke so for more follow the link:https://dodgerpokereport.com/?p=788
Clayton Beeter
Clayton Beeter is the #9 prospect in the Dodgers organization and is another pitcher that has a lightning bolt for a right arm. Beeter was drafted out of Texas Tech as the #66 overall pick in the 2020 draft.
Beeter is a 2 pitch guy with a very “over the top” release point. His fastball sits mid 90’s but his can reach as high as 98. His curveball is a very sharp breaking 12-6 pitch and is low 80’s so it provide a lot of downward bite as well as a big difference in speed from his fastball.
Beeter didn’t pitch until his Junior year of High School, then had Tommy John Surgery his freshman year so he is still on limited pitch counts.
Kody Hoese
Kody Hoese had a 2021 that many players, unfortunately, have to endure sometime during their professional careers. He got hurt, then just never could get going after he came back off of injury. Hoese is the Dodgers #9 prospect and was drafted out of Tulane as the 25th pick of the 2019 draft so he is a big time prospect. He hit .391 as a Junior at Tulane and hit 23 homeruns as well at the Division 1 level so he is more than capable. To make any kind of permanent evaluations on Hoese based off of this year would be unfair as oblique injuries are incredibly difficult to deal with. The core muscles are the most important muscles for athletes, so there in no doubt that Hoese did the best with the situation his body was in.
Jacob Amaya
I really, really like this guy. I was fortunate enough to get to interview and feature Amaya and came away super impressed with him. His confidence, work ethic and leadership skills are elite and so is his fielding. Amaya is the Dodgers #14 prospect and has been considered by multiple outlets as the best defensive shortstop in the organization. He has also shown every offensive skill needed to be a really good offensive player as he has had years where his average was high, and also had years where his power numbers were good. But, he hasn’t been able to do both at the same time so he is still trying to put his offensive puzzle together.
Amaya grew up just about a ½ hour from Dodger Stadium, and his grandpa Frank also played in the Dodgers organization, so when he got drafted in the 11th round by the Dodgers a dream had come true.
Dodger Poke featured Amaya so for more on him follow the link: https://dodgerpokereport.com/?p=1404
James Outman
James Outman is the Dodgers #27 prospect and was brought up to Tulsa with Justin Yurchak. Outman was drafted in the 7th round out of Sacramento State and hit .289 with 9 homeruns in his 39 games with Tulsa. Outman is bigger than you realize when you first see him and he has every tool to be very good major league player for many many years. But, the Dodger outfield is crowded so the competition for the 23 year old is fierce.
Ryan Noda
Okay, MILB…..which is where my list comes from….whoever made your list for the Dodgers Top 30 prospects just completely whiffed on Ryan Noda. Noda finished 2nd in homeruns in all of AA, 2nd in RBI’s, and 2nd in walks. And, he also is versatile defensively and can not only play multiple positions, but he can play both the infield and the outfield.
Noda was drafted by the Bluejays in the 15th round of the 2017 draft out of Cincinnati and is a big athletic left handed hitting slugger.
Dodger Poke was also fortunate enough to get to interview and feature Ryan Noda is one of our latest features. For more on Noda follow the link: https://dodgerpokereport.com/?p=1270
Devin Mann:
Devin Mann joins Will Smith and Bobby Miller as another Louisville Cardinal prospect. Mann is long and lanky and got off to a slow start in 2021. On July 4th Mann was hitting just .199, but from that point on he started to heat up then absolutely caught fire in September. Mann hit .264 in July, .263 in August, but then .323 in September. But, that doesn’t tell his story.
Mann had multi homerun games in 3 consecutive games from September 9-11 and at one point had hit 6 homeruns in 10 at bats. The Louisville slugger was drafted in the 5th round of the 2018 draft and is another versatile defensive player as he can play both outfield and 1st base.
Dodger Poke featured Mann “At a Glance” so for more on him follow the link. https://dodgerpokereport.com/?p=1706
Justin Yurchak
Justin Yurchak came up from High A Ogden with James Outman in July and just hit and hit and hit. Yurchak hit .383 in his 30 games with Tulsa and had 14 multi hit games including 9 games where he had at least 3 hits in those 30 games with AA Tulsa. Yurchak plays primarily 1st base and was drafted in the 12th round of the 2017 draft out of Binghamton College.
Hunter Feduccia
Hunter Feduccia is another Driller that heated up as the weather warmed up as well. Feduccia was drafted in the 12th round of the 2018 draft out of LSU so he has a lot of experience playing high levels of baseball. Feduccia is a longer lanky body type at catcher and is, in my opinion, the most underrated prospect in the organization. That’s because he’s not flashy, but the left handed hitting catcher is just very solid and has a quick release throwing the ball to 2nd base.
Feduccia hit .254 with 10 homeruns, but considering that he was hitting just .198 on July 7th, he showed reslience and improvement over the last 3 months. The Bayou Bengal hit .291 in July, .271 in August then .289 in September.
Feduccia has a very flat left handed swing so he should be able to hit the ball to the left center gap very well which should provide him some consistency.
Landon Knack
Landon Knack was featured on Dodger Poke Report and is another power arm in the Dodgers organization that is being used as a starter. Knack was drafted out of Middle Tennessee State in the 2nd Round of the 2020 draft and was fast tracked all the way to AA this year. He is another Dodger that likes to take advantage of the spin rate of his fastball up in the zone, then also has a slider shaped breaking ball and a 12-6 with a lot of downward movement. And, also, like many of the Dodgers pitching prospects, Knack features a really good changeup as well.
All in all Knack in a 4 pitch power pitcher with the potential for all 4 pitches to be ++++.
Nick Robertson
Nick Robertson is another big bodied power arm for the Dodgers that has a lot of versatility in the role the Dodgers may choose for him. Robertson played his college days as a James Madison Duke and was drafted in the 7th round of the 2019 draft.
Robertson hit 100 with his fastball this year and is a 3 pitch strike thrower, so he offers a lot of versatility in terms of the roles he can be used in.
Robertson was featured by Dodger Poke so for in depth analysis of him follow the link: https://dodgerpokereport.com/?p=1605
Mark Washington
Mark Washington stands at 6’7 so when he comes out of the pen he is daunting and when he delivers the ball it’s coming in at a pretty good incline. Washington was drafted out of Lehigh in the 25th round and has gotten better and better. In 2017, in rookie ball, Washington had an ERA of 3.20. The next year between rookie and A ball the 6’7 Washington had an ERA of 2.95. In 2019 in High A his ERA was 2.97, but this year his ERA was just 2.00 in AA.
Washington is 94-95 on the fastball and features a good changeup and throws an occasional slider.
Clayton Beeter
Clayton Beeter was taken as the 66th pick of the 2020 draft out of Texas Tech and is one that the Dodgers are protecting. Beeter had Tommy John in 2017 and is still trying to increase his pitch count in his starts.
Beeter has a very over the top delivery and features a very sneaky but ++ fastball that sits mid 90’s and can reach as high as 97-98. His curveball is in the low 80’s so it provides a lot of difference in speed so he can keep hitters off balance. It has a 12-6 shape, then he also has more of a 3-9 slider that some think is his best pitch. He has a changeup but doesn’t get to it as much because his other pitches are so good and he hasn’t thrown that much.
Michael Grove
Michael Grove came to the Dodgers from West Virginia in the 2nd Round of the 2018 draft and I can tell you first hand that his stuff is legit. He is a a starter and likes to use his fastball up in the zone so he has given up some home runs this year, but, trust me, when he puts things together watch out for this guy. He was put on the 40 man roster so that tells you all you need to know in terms of what the organization thinks about him.
The Dodgers were so high on him that they took him even though he missed all of 2018 due to Tommy John Surgery. Grove sat anywhere from 93-95 this year on his fastball and has a power slider and a very sharp breaking curve ball. The thing that gives him a chance to be a very good major leaguer is that his delivery, arm slot and everything is identical between locations of pitches then types of pitches so there are no tip offs as to what he’s throwing or where.
Gus Varland
Gus Varland was drafted by the Oakland A’s in the 14th round of the 2018 Draft out of Concordia University.
Varland came to the Dodgers along with Infielder Sheldon Neuse in the deal that sent Adam Kolarek and outfielder Cody Thomas to Oakland. The thick framed right hander had Tommy John in 2019 and features a 3 pitch mix that has a lots of movement to them. Varland has an extremely high spin rate on his fastball and has learned to use it up in the zone to get a lot of swing and miss strikeouts. He has posted some really good K/BB ratios in the past and had an incredible first year as a professional in 2018. With his Tommy John surgery in 2019, then Covid cancelling 2020 has slowed down the massive amount of momentum he had after 2018. If he stays healthy, rebuilds his pitch count and get the feel back in his off speed stuff he will pitch in the Major Leagues.
Bryan Brickhouse
Being drafted in 2011, Brickhouse is an older guy for the AA level an is on his 3rd organization in professional baseball. Brickhouse is a guy that has always had the bigtime fastball in the upper 90’s, but has struggled with command of his secondary pitches. If he is able to find a reliable secondary pitch I think he would project as a 1 inning relief guy at the MLB level.
Cameron Gibbens
Cameron Gibbens is 6’8 bullpen arm and came to the Dodgers from Australia and the Australian Baseball league. Gibbens is 92-94 and has off-speed stuff in the mid 80’s so he offers a big speed difference between the two. Being 6’8 Gibbens also offers a lot of downward tilt even on pitches he is not forcibly trying to create movement on.
Aaron Oschenbein
Selected with the 191st pick of the 2019 draft, Aaron Oschenbein is another power arm bullpen arm that has already had his Tommy John surgery. Oschenbein has what I call “knees and elbows” in his delivery as it has enough uniqueness to throw a hitter off.
He is another guy that can really run the ball up to home plate and has a curve ball and change up. He was moved to the bullpen in College so he could max out the velocity on his fastball and not have to conserve mph for longevity in a game. His fastball and “slurve” are his go to pitches and are very effective as long as he is maxing out on his velocity in the 94-95 range. As a starter in College he was 89-91 with only 2 go to pitches so the transition the bullpen has been a natural fit for him.
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This Week in Dodgers Baseball 9-26-21
The Dodgers entered the week down 1 game, and after a 4-2 week have lost 1 game on the Giants and are down by 2 games in the NL West with 6 left to play.
Monday
Monday was a travel day as the Dodgers had just completed a weekend series in Cincinnati and traveled to Colorado for a 3 games series in the Mile High City. In Colorado the Dodgers went 2-1 against the Rockies and kept pace with the Giants as San Francisco also went 2-1 in their series at San Diego.
Cody Bellinger got placed on the 10 day IL on Monday with a left rib fracture which made room for Luke Raley to be recalled for the 2nd time in the season. In his 2nd at bat, the Former Lake Erie college product blasted a monstrous 2 run homerun over the center field wall. Raley was spotlighted “at a glance” on Dodger Poke Report.com. Despite taking BP over the weekend, it is not known when Bellinger will be able to make it off the IL but the Dodgers are hopeful he will be back by next Sunday.
Tuesday
Trea Turner had 2 hits and the Dodgers went 3 for 6 with runners in scoring position to notch an exciting 5-4 extra inning win over the Rockies. Albert Pujols singled in Gavin Lux in the top of the 10th after Kenley Jansen had worked a scoreless bottom of the 9th. Jansen got the win as he walked 2 but gave up no runs in his 1 inning of work in the 9th inning before Brusdar Graterol and Alex Vesia combined to pitch a scoreless 10th.
AJ Pollock returned from the 10 day injured list and eventually made it back into the starting lineup on Thursday and got 2 hits, then hit his 17th home run of the year on Friday.
Wednesday
Lasting just 3.2 innings with stuff that looked flat, some people are starting to wonder if Walker Buehler is going through a “dead arm” period. In his last 3 outings Buehler has given up 10 earned runs in his last 16.2 innings of work.
After the Dodgers scored 3 runs in the top of the 4th inning The Rockies responded by jumping on Buehler for 5 earned runs in the bottom half of the frame. While giving up those 5 earned runs, Buehler was pulled with 2 outs in the inning. The Dodgers answered back with 2 runs in the top of the next frame to tie the game but a 4 spot for the Rockies in the bottom of the 7th sealed the Dodgers fate.
Thursday
On Thursday the Dodgers won another extra inning game and improved their extra inning record to 6-12. I know 6-12 isn’t good, but the Dodgers started just 1-11 in extra inning games and are 5-1 in their last 6 extra inning affairs so at least it has gotten better.
Corey Seager was the star of this game as the left handed hitting short stop had 4 hits and 2 RBI’s on the night. Trea Turner added a 3 hit performance and AJ Pollock had a multi hit game as well.
Max Scherzer was actually human in this outing giving up 5 earned runs in 5 innings of work. The Dodgers used 6 pitchers from the 6th inning on then won on Max Muncy’s 35th homerun of the year in the top of the 10th. Kenley Jansen notched his 2nd win of the week by throwing a scoreless 9th, then Blake Treinen got the save by closing the game in the 10th.
Friday
On Friday the Dodgers traveled to their 3rd city in 8 days and found their way to the desert to take on the hapless Diamondbacks. The Dodgers had dominated the Diamondbacks coming into the series having beaten Arizona in 14 of the 16 contests between the 2 clubs this year.
Justin Turner had 2 hits and Will Smith, Trea Turner, Corey Seager and AJ Pollock all had extra base hits in route to a 4-2 Dodger victory. Pollock hit his 17th home run of the season in the 2nd inning and had 2 RBI’s on the night.
Tony Gonsolin looked better in this performance as he gave up a run in the 2nd and a run in the 5th, but highlighted his night with no walks and 7 strikeouts. Kenley Jansen pitched a stress free 9th inning to record his 35th save in the 2021 campaign.
Saturday
Let’s all hope that Saturday wasn’t the final dagger in the NL West hopes for the Dodgers. In an inexplicably lifeless loss the Dodgers were able to muster just 5 hits and 2 runs and gave back a game to the Giants and now trail the Division by 2 games.
Sunday
Corey Seager and Justin Turner got the party started for the Dodgers as they hit back to back homeruns on consecutive pitches to give the Dodgers a lead they would not relinquish. Seager then hit his 2nd home run of the afternoon in the 3rd inning to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. That’s all Julio Urias would need as the league leader in wins went 5 innings giving up no runs scattering 5 hits. The Dodgers won their 100th game on Sunday.
Despite hitting a homerun in his 2nd at bat of his recall, Luke Raley was optioned back to OKC to make room for Left Handed pitcher Andrew Vasquez. Vasquez was acquired from the Twins on the last day of August and has been up with LA once before and had 2 outings with the big club. In those 2 outings Vasquez pitched 1.2 innings giving up no runs with a batting average against of just .167.
On The Farm
All of the Minor league affiliates for the Dodgers have finished their seasons except for AAA OKC.
The AA Drillers finished on a high note as infielder Miguel Vargas won the AA batting crown recording the leagues highest highest average. Infielder/outfielder slugger Ryan Noda finished his season 2nd in homeruns, 2nd in RBI’s and 2nd in walks
Michael Busch ended the 2021 season red hot as he hit .413 and had 6 multi hit games in the 13 games the Drillers played in September. If you add in the last 2 games of August, Busch had 8 multi hit games in his last 15 games played.
Devin Mann finished his season the right way hitting .323 in September and had multi home run games in 3 consecutive games from September 9-11. Mann was so hot that, at one point, he had hit 6 home runs in 10 at bats.
The Drillers had 4 of the Dodgers top 10 prospects and 6 of the organization’s top 15 and that’s even after Ryan Pepiot and Andre Jackson got moved to AAA.
AAA OKC is playing out the string and is having a good weekend in Las Vegas. Mitchell White had a good outing on Saturday night featuring a 4 pitch combination of strikes. He was then backed up by Darrien Nunez who is a very intriguing pitcher. Nunez has a batting average against of just .172, has 75 strikeouts and a WHIP of just 1.000. His fastball is sitting at 96.
Andre Jackson tied for his longest outing of the year on Monday against Round Rock going 5 innings and giving up just 2 runs.
After not pitching as well as he would have liked for a couple starts, the Dodgers #2 prospect, Ryan Pepiot, was better in his performance on Friday Night. Pepiot had a lot of arm side run and used multiple pitches to go 4 innings giving up 2 runs.
Up Next:
Tomorrow is an off day for the Dodger before they host the Padres for a 3 game series on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Tuesday:
Buehler-Dodgers TBA-Padres
Wednesday:
Scherzer-Dodgers TBA -Padres
Thursday:
Gonsolin-Dodger TBA-Padres
Next Weekend the Dodgers host Milwaukee for a 3 game series to finish out the regular season.
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Luke Raley: Just Keep Going!
Luke Raley is a prospect in the Dodgers organization that lives by a motto to “Just Keep Going”. Raley is a Highland High graduate and was a standout player at the Medina Ohio school, all stated, and did everything he could to get a chance to further his career at the highest levels. But, coming out of High School, Raley was offered 0 Division 1 scholarships, went undrafted and, quite honestly, grew a chip on his shoulder about it. The game of baseball teaches so many lessons in life, and one of them is that it forces you to have the right perspective on things. For instance, when a player is 0 for their last forever, they can choose to dwell on their struggles, or they can view it as if they are just simply due. Having a productive perspective is certainly much easier said than done, so when someone like Raley demonstrates it in real life it’s impressive.
Chip on Your Shoulder
Everyone wants to be valued, and everyone wants others to see value in what they do. When doors are shut, or just simply never opened in the first place, it’s easy to give in, move on, and go to the next thing in life. But that’s not how people like Luke Raley operate, it’s not how they think, and it’s just simply not what they do. Instead, people like Luke Raley dig in, they put a chip on their shoulder, and they embark on proving all the people wrong that didn’t believe in them.
After High School the long lanky left hander took his chip on his shoulder to Division II Lake Erie College and started lighting up the skies as if he was trying to create his own Storm. At Lake Erie he became an All American, hit .424 as a Junior and garnered enough attention to get drafted by the Dodgers in the 7th round of the 2016 draft. Raley had made it, he had proven his point, and he was now going to become a Dodger.
My career at Lake Erie was an awesome experience. I had great coaches there and I ended up playing in every game I was healthy for and you can’t beat that. That’s why I’m truly a believer that everyone needs to find the right situation and my situation at Lake Erie was perfect.
Dodger Debut
Raley’s career with the Dodgers got off to a quick start as he became a California League All Star with High A Rancho Cucamonga in 2017, then played in 93 games with AA Tulsa in 2018 and was having a really good year. But, to his surprise, he was traded to the Twins in the deal that brought Brian Dozier to the Dodgers and finished out that year with the AA affiliate of the Twins. Raley wasn’t surprised that he got traded, but, after the Dodgers acquired Manny Machado, he thought he was safe, and that he had made it through the trade talks as a Dodger. So, when he got the call just 30 minutes before the trade deadline, and he was told that he was being traded to the Twins it was a surprise to him and one that forced him to dive back into his great perspective towards life.
In 2018 I was having a good year in AA Tulsa and I knew the Dodgers were going to make some moves and I had heard my name in some rumors. When the Manny Machado deal went through I thought I was safe as a Dodger, but then I got the call that I was going to the Twins. So, it was really just a shock as it happened so fast.
Perspective
When a player gets traded, it’s up to them as to whether they view it as not being valued by the team trading them, or being valued by the team acquiring them. That’s a line of thought that, in the long run, produces nothing much that is positive. Well, unless you are Luke Raley and you have learned how to turn those kind of thoughts into motivation. In 2019, Raley took off and hit .302 in AAA and was showing the Dodgers the value that they were missing. But, not for long as just before the beginning of Spring Training in 2020 he became a Dodger again. The former Highland High star came back to the Dodgers along with Brusdar Graterol in the deal that sent Kenta Maeda to the Twins. Raley was right back where he wanted to be, in a Dodger uniform, around familiar coaches and teammates, and he was ready to take the next step in his career.
I knew the Twins were going to make some moves, I had heard rumors about them being in the Mookie Betts trade and stuff like that and when I saw that they were in trade discussions with the Dodgers I knew the trade was going to happen. Honestly, I was shocked because when you get traded away you feel like there’s a reason for it, so it was honestly shocking to go back, but it was a much easier transition back to the Dodgers.
Just as Raley was ready to leap into the next stage of his career, Covid hit and the 2020 Minor League Season was cancelled. Raley was so close to the Major Leagues and, like his 2021 season, he was most likely going to get his first MLB action in that year. It was a disappointment to say the least and one that forced Raley to, once again, dive back into his bag of perspective. In true Raley form, instead of viewing that as a year taken away from his career, he viewed it as a year to change his career. Raley used his time at the Alternate Training Site to make some adjustments to his game, and it has come up huge for him.
I went to the Alternate Training Site in L.A. at USC all year. I feel like I had a good 2020 and was able to make some adjustments that you can’t always make in a season. So, for how bad it was to lose the season, there was definitely something to take away from it because it gave you a different opportunity to improve yourself. And, I think I found a lot of answers in my swing and other things at the Alternate Training Site and, you know, I was hoping I could go out and have a good season like I did this year and hopefully next year it turns in to more Major League success.
Raley had his best year yet in 2021 as in AAA OKC he hit .294 and had an OPS of .963. He had so much success that he was called up and optioned 7 different times and had one of the most dramatic moments of 2021. On the first pitch of his 2nd at bat back up with L.A. Raley put a charge in a ball unlike any other ball hit by the Dodgers this year. He hit a .472 foot homerun which was the longest of any Dodger for this year and the 3rd longest by a Dodger in the statcast era.
That was a really cool experience and one that was made WAY cooler by the fact that his mom was in the stands. In fact, that game was the first time she had ever gotten to see her son play in the Major Leagues. It was an amazing experience for an amazing person in an amazing organization and now, hopefully Raley will find more time in the MLB and have an amazing career.
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This Week in Dodgers Baseball 9-19-21
The Dodgers went 5-1 on the week and gained 1 1/2 games on the Giants and are just 1 game back in the NL West. Each team has exactly 12 games left so buckle your seat belts and get ready for an exciting finish.
Monday
On Monday the 13th Clayton Kershaw made his much anticipated debut and pitched 4.1 innings giving up 4 hits and just 1 run. The Dodgers took down the hapless Diamondbacks behind a huge night from Justin Turner as he homered and had 3 RBI’s in route to a 5-1 victory.
Tuesday
Tony Gonsolin got the start and had his 3rd longest outing of the year. Gonsolin went 5 innings giving up just 2 hits and no runs as the Dodgers doubled up the Snakes 8-4. Max Muncy had a multi hit game going 2 for 3 with a double and homerun. Trea Turner had 2 hits as Muncy, Turner and Will Smith each had 2 RBI’s a piece.
Mitch White was optioned back down on Tuesday after throwing 2 scoreless innings for LA. on Monday. White was interviewed by Dodger Poke and talked about what its like going back and forth so much between LA and AAA OKC.
Wednesday
The Dodgers got out their brooms on Hump Day and swept the Diamondbacks by a score of 5-3. Max Muncy had 2 more hits including a homerun and Gavin Lux, Will Smith, Justin Turner and Mookie Betts all had multi hit games as well as Muncy. Julio Urias recorded his league leading 18th win and went 5 innings giving up 2 runs.
Friday
Thursday was a travel day as the Dodgers flew out to Cincinnati to start a 3 game weekend series. On Friday the Dodgers dropped a frustraitng 3-1 game and could only muster 6 hits and just 1 extra base hit. Walker Buehler wasn’t terrible but he wasn’t great for his standards either as he went 6 innings giving up 3 runs.
Saturday
If the Dodgers slept walk through Friday’s game, they woke up for Saturday. The Turners had 2 hits a piece and Gavin Lux had a triple. Max Scherzer did his usual thing and gave up absolutely no runs and only 2 hits in 7 innings.
Today
Clayton Kershaw made his 2nd start and looked really good going 5 innings giving up just 1 run on just 1 hit. Ironically, the only run he gave up was set up by a wild pitch on a day where Kershaw walked no one. Mookie Betts and Corey Seager each had multi hit games and Will Smith hit his 25th Homerun. Lux hit his 7th homerun of the year and is now 11 for 24 since being called back up to LA.
Next Up
The Dodgers are off on Monday before traveling to Colorado for a Mile High matchup with the Rockies. Although the Rockies record isn’t very good, at 70-78 that record is deceiving. They are just 26-51 on the road, so they play much better at home at Coors Field where the Dodgers will be facing them.
Here are the matchups in Colorado.
Tuesday: Urias vs. Senzatela
Wednesday: Buehler vs. Marquez
Thursday: Scherzer vs. Freeland
On Friday the Dodgers travel to Arizona to start another 3 game series weekend series with Arizona.
On the Farm
Devin Mann hit his 8th homerun of the season for AA Tulsa and continued a hot streak of which I’ve never seen. Mann had multi homerun games in 3 consecutive games in Amarillo and then hit his 8th on Tuesday. Mann was also featured on the latest edition of “At a Glance” on Dodger Poke Report.
Fellow Louisville Cardinal Alum, Bobby Miller pitched this week and showcased why the Dodgers are so high on him as he hit 99 mph with his 2nd pitch of the night.
Nick Robertson continued to show versatility with his longest outing of the year in Amarillo giving up no runs in 3 2/3 innings. Robertson hit 100 mph last month in Springfield and was also featured on Dodger Poke.
Jacob Amaya was another top prospect that was featured on Dodger Poke and continued to flash the leather making several great plays for AA Tulsa. Dodger Poke has a breakdown on the ease of which Amaya is able to make plays on the move.
Ryan Noda is 2nd in the league in homeruns with 29, is 2nd in RBI’s, and 2nd in walks in all of AA. Noda was also featured on Dodger Poke Report.
Miguel Vargas continues his incredible year with Tulsa and is 4th in the league in hitting with a .320 batting average.
AAA OKC:
Sheldon Neuse made a splash coming off of his stint on the IL. Neuse is hitting. 348 since being put back in the lineup and has 7 extra basehits during that time.
Victor Gonzalez has been busy in OKC and has appeared in 6 outings throwing a combined 5 innings in those outings. In those 5 innings he has given up 2 earned runs and walked 2.
Matt Davidson continued his hot hitting and was another Dodger prospect that was featured on Dodger Poke. Davidson has elite exit velocity as he has been known to hit 112 mph singles. The big burly corner infielder is hitting .290 with 26 homeruns and has an OPS of .996. He can absolutely mash!
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Matt Davidson: 1st Round and 1st Class
As professional baseball players climb through the Minor League Ranks, characteristics and qualities, many times, will define a players path to the Major Leagues. Baseball presents so much failure that, most times, talent isn’t enough. Talent has gotten many young players “to” the Minor Leagues, but it’s their characteristics and qualities that, many times, determines whether they get “through” the Minor Leagues.
Players have to have Guts and not be afraid to fail. They also have to have resilience, and get back up and keep trying in the face of failure. Players also need to be intelligent in the way that they handle the grind that baseball presents both mentally and physically. And, then, players need to be tough and can’t let nagging injuries or prolonged 0fers detour their path.
If you didn’t catch on, those qualities all spelled out the word GRIT. Baseball players have to have GRIT! They have to have Guts, Resilience, Intelligence and Toughness. If a baseball player doesn’t have Guts, isn’t Resilient, doesn’t play with Intelligence and isn’t Tough, then, in the words of one of my greatest mentors, Good Luck!
Road to Success
Matt Davidson has all those qualities and, in 2009, was given the chance to put them on display. Davidson was drafted in the first round of the 2009 Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks and began climbing his mountain to the Major Leagues.
The early climb brought a lot of success, as just 2 years after being drafted, in 2011, Davidson was ranked in the top 100 of all Minor League prospects. By 2013 Davidson was at the top of the Minor League Baseball mountain and found himself in AAA Reno, just one step away from the MLB. In that year the burly right handed Slugger played in and was named the MVP of the All Star Futures game, then, also won the Minor League Homerun Derby the very next day. A month later he was in the Major Leagues.
Davidson had made it. He had climbed over the Minor League Mountain and was headed to the Peak of Baseball, the Major Leagues. In 2013 he appeared in 31 games for the Diamondbacks hitting .237 with 3 homeruns.
Business Side of Baseball
The Winter of 2013 is when Davidson was introduced to the business side of baseball. The Up and Comer was up and traded to the Chicago White Sox for closer Addison Reed who had closed 40 games that year. Reed was just 25 years old, so the White Sox saw an enormous amount of value in Davidson in trading Reed for him. But, as baseball would have it, Davidson broke camp in 2014 with AAA Charlotte, hit just .199 and spent his next 2 seasons in AAA.
Adjustments
At some point in their careers, all professional baseball players are forced with making some adjustments if they want to keep playing. Whether it is making physical changes to mechanics or just simply creating different off the field routines, the players that are willing to take on those adjustments are the ones that tend to last the longest. Davidson came to that crossroads in 2014. Between the years of 2014 and 2015 he got married, had kids, lost his grandparents and was not performing very well on a seemingly never ending assignment in the Minor Leagues. As a result, he almost walked away from the game and went to work with his dad as an electrician. But, in a show of resilience, instead of quitting, he decided to adjust.
Resilience
Despite having only 3 MLB at bats in 3 years, Davidson refocused himself to getting back to the Major Leagues and sought the help of Mike Gellinger. Gellinger was the White Sox MInor League hitting instructor at the time and had worked with Paul Konerko and Konerko was the player that Davidson was compared to the most. Konerko fully endorses and is a big believer in Gellinger, so Davidson was “All in” and was ready to find some answers and get back to the MLB. And, in 2017, that’s exactly what the former first round draft pick did. Between 2017 and 2018, the Yucaipa Thunderbird product made it back and played in 241 Major League games with the White Sox hitting a combined .224 with 46 homeruns and 130 RBI’s.
Following the 2018 season Davidson elected free agency and got picked up by the Texas Rangers. But, after spending the entire 2019 season in AAA Nashville, he elected to become a Free Agent again.
In the following off-season the Reds picked up the talented infielder and on July 24th they selected his contract and brought him back to the MLB. After a short 10 day stint on the IL, Davidson was ready to make his mark in August of last year. But, after getting just 43 at bats in 2020, the Reds Designated the Veteran for Assignment in the off-season and after clearing waivers he elected Free Agency again. The Dodgers then picked him up in the off season and haven’t regretted it a bit.
Davidson As a Dodger
Davidson has shown his complete offensive arsenal in 2021. He is hitting .285 has 25 homeruns and has an OPS of .985. His OPS has been above 1.000 in the 3 consecutive months of July. August and September, and he has also hit .285 or better in every month but June. He hit .298 in July, .314 in August and now. 327 in September. So, he has been super explosive and equally as consistent
Translation
Obviously what Davidson is doing is very impressive, but, to be fair, it must be noted that it is being done in AAA OKC. So, the question then turns to whether or not what he’s doing translates to the next level. In my opinion, it absolutely does and here’s why.
Davidson has become really, really good at using all fields. What was once an adjustment is now just part of his arsenal. It’s no longer something he has to try and do, it’s just something he has become natural at. And, not only does he hit to all fields, he does so with power.
No one hits the ball harder than Matt Davidson! Davidson is slashing .289/24/.991.#Dodgers @okc_dodgers pic.twitter.com/wU9fAUX7p9
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) September 17, 2021
Davidson has what has been termed as “Buggy Whip” with his barrel. He reminds me of Chris Taylor in this vein in the sense that he releases the barrel like he’s cracking a whip. As a result, it’s different when he hits the ball. It looks different, it sounds different and the fact that he has hit a 112 mph single, up the middle, is proof that it is different. Here is how Davidson’s 112 MPH single looked against Albuquerque.
Up Next
Davidson has shown an incredible amount of consistency and is absolutely 1st class in how he approaches the game. Kust rrecently he was placed on the 60 day IL, but only stayed on the IL for 11 days, so his toughness can’t be questioned.
I do believe that Davidson will eventually get another chance in the MLB because his exit velocities are elite, he has shown consistency over an entire season, and…..he has GRIT! He is a first Rounder that is, no doubt, First Class!
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Andre Jackson: AA-All the Way-To L.A
When Andre Jackson toed the rubber for his MLB debut at Dodger Stadium, one can only imagine what was going through his mind. He had just gotten called up to AAA OKC on July 31, and, less than 3 weeks later, made his MLB debut in one of the most iconic settings in all of sports. In fact, his call-up to AAA had been so recent that he still hadn’t even made a start at Bricktown Ballpark in OKC yet, and his profile picture on the MILB roster still had him wearing a AA Tulsa Drillers hat.
Surprise Start in L.A.
On the night that Jackson made his MLB debut, I was going to attend an OKC game and expected to get to see him pitch with the AAA affiliate. I was especially excited because it was going to be the first time I got to see him pitch in person, but, upon arrival, the skies opened up and the game got rained out. I assumed that his start would be pushed back to the next day and that I would have to wait to see him until then, but, to my amazement, when I turned on the Dodgers game later that night, there he stood, on the mound at Dodger Stadium, ready to make his MLB debut. Jackson is the Dodgers #7 prospect according to mlb.com and has made it to AAA, so, the fact that he got called up wasn’t a total surprise, but, I don’t think anyone expected it to be this soon.
How’d He Do in His MLB Debut?
As amazement slowly turned to excitement, my focus started shifting to Jackson’s last start, which was with OKC, but in Albuquerque. In that outing, Jackson gave up just 1 run and 3 hits in 3 innings of work in a game that saw 21 runs scored. It was a game that was part of a series where 11-10 scores were the norm, so, giving up just 1 run in 3 innings was an exceptional outing.
Jackson’s Stuff
The first thing that is of most relevance when breaking down Andre Jackson is how much his motion resembles Greg Maddox.
Jackson’s fastball can reach up to 96, and, like Maddox, it has a ton of “arm side” fade.
Watch the “arm side” fade on the fastball in this next video.
Jackson doesn’t just resemble Greg Maddox with his motion. His change-up is nearly identical as well and has good “hop”, meaning, it starts inside to a lefty and appears to “hop” back over the plate. Jackson recorded his first strikeout in the Big Leagues with this pitch.
Compare Jackson’s changeup, side by side, with Greg Maddox throwing that exact same pitch
Adding to his arsenal of a tailing fastball and a “Greg Maddox” type change up, Jackson can also sink the change up to give it a 12-6 downward tumble to dive under the strike zone.
Jackson does have a curveball and a slider, but they are not as refined as his tailing fastball and his 2 differently shaped change-ups so he doesn’t use them as much.
Outfielder in College
Jackson was mainly an outfielder at Utah, and, with an era of 6.53, he wasn’t dominant while pitching in College, and also missed all of 2017 due to Tommy John surgery. But, despite all of that, the Dodgers still drafted him in the 12th round, and, needless to say, haven’t regretted it a bit. Jackson is 2nd in the Dodgers organization in era and batting average against, and, having played so much outfield in College, is obviously an above-average athlete for the position. He also showed intangibles like poise and swag beyond his age and promises to have a long and very productive career at the MLB level.
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This Week in Dodgers Baseball (9-13)
The Dodgers went 5-2 on the week and just need to play .500 ball the rest of the way to reach the 100 win mark. Of course, although 100 wins would be a great accomplishment, winning the Division is the goal and the Dodgers actually lost a couple games to the Giants during this last week. The Giants have won 7 games in a row, including the last game of the LA series.
Monday
On Monday the Dodgers beat the Cardinals 5-1 as Max Scherzer went 8 innings giving up no earned runs. Chris Taylor hit his 20th homerun and the Dodgers went 3 for 4 with Runners in scoring position.
The Dodgers selected the contract of Neftali Feliz in preparation of adding him to the 40 man roster. Feliz threw 1 inning the next night giving up 1 hit and no runs but then was outrighted back to OKC on Saturday. Andrew Vasquez was optioned to OKC to make room for Feliz
Tuesday
On Tuesday the Dodgers defeated the Cardinals again, but this time 7-2. The Dodgers used 8 combined pitchers, and not one of them has been with the Dodgers all year. All of them were either picked up on waivers, free agency, or spent a good amount of time in AAA OKC this year.
The Turners had 2 hits a piece, but the star of the show was Will Smith. Smith went 4 for 4 on the night including a homerun.
Tuesday was a busy day on the transaction front. The Dodgers claimed Jake Jewell off of waivers, and signed outfielder Edwin Sanchez to a Minor League contract after acquiring him through Free Agency. Clayton Kershaw was the headliner though as he started for AAA OKC and went 4 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits. But, as with all rehab starts, the biggest takeaway from it was that Kershaw came away healthy, and, as a result, is back with LA and will start tomorrow night. Tuesday also saw LHP Garrett Cleavinger get placed on the 60 day IL.
Wednesday
The Dodgers dropped yet another 1 run game on Wednesday as Mitch White got the start and went 5 innings giving up 4 earned runs. The Dodgers used 4 more pitchers in this game and, again, all with guys that have either spent a great deal of time in AAA OKC, or were picked up via waivers and/or free agency off of a DFA.
Thursday
On Thursday the Dodgers lost their 2nd game in a row to the Cardinals as Tony Gonsolin got he start. Tony is yet another guy that has been in the Minors rehabbing lately but he pitched well giving up just 1 run in his 3 innings of work. The Dodgers went on to use 6 pitchers in the game and Justin Turner racked up 2 more hits while Trea Turner had a big 2 out RBI. The Dodgers were 1 for 3 with runners in scoring position.
On Thursday Andre Jackson, Gavin Lux and Matt Beaty all got recalled to LA while Billy McKinney was placed on the 10 Day IL. Lux has multi hit games in each of the last 2 Dodgers games but Jackson has yet to see any action since being recalled.
Friday
Friday saw the beginning of a 3 game series with the free falling Padres and was the first victory in a 3 game sweep. The Dodgers needed just 4 hits and 3 runs behind Julio Urias who gave up 0 runs in his 7 innings. Urias leads the league in wins and is 17-3. With all of the injuries and instability in the pitching staff, Urias has been one of the rocks that have allowed to Dodgers to be in position to win 100 games. The irony to that is that Urias’s career seemed like it was never going to get going as he had to overcome injury after injury on his path to LA.
Saturday
On Saturday the Dodgers won a 1 run game and did it in somewhat dramatic fashion. After scoring 2 runs in the top of the 8th to pull within 1 run, the Padres went down in order in the 9th as Kenley Jansen recorded his 32nd save on the year. Mookie Betts hit his 20th homerun, had 4 RBI’s and a sacrifice fly. Saturday was a breakout game for Gavin Lux as he went 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI. Walker Buehler rebounded from his worst start of the year by going 7 innings, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs.
Sunday
On Sunday the Dodgers completed their 3 game sweep of the Padres and it was almost a perfect day. Max Scherzer took a perfect game into the 8th inning when Eric Hosmer broke it up with a double to right field. Scherzer, in my opinion, should have been given the right to finish the game as a complete game shutout as his pitch count was at just 92 when he was pulled..
On Sunday Kenley Jansen was placed on Paternity leave and Mitch White was recalled from OKC.
On the Farm
The 2 main headlines between Tulsa and OKC this week were the hot streaks of Devin Mann and Michaeal Busch. Mann had multi homerun games in 3 consecutive games, and between Thursday, Friday and Saturday, had hit 6 homeruns in his last 10 at bats.
Michael Busch has been hot for over a month now and is hitting .491 in September with an OPS of 1.258.
Ryan Noda hit multiple homeruns this week to add to his league leading 28 homeruns, and is also 2nd in the league in walks and 5th in RBI’s.
Justin Yurchak continues to be a great hitter for Tulsa and is hitting .359 so far in September. Yurchak hit .411 in August, .369 in July, and .475 in June. The dude can hit and is hitting .366 on the season.
Louisville product, Bobby Miller made his AA debut and hit 99 on his 2nd pitch of the game and reliever Nick Robertson went 2 ⅔ innings to show his versatility as a pitcher in the organization.
In OKC Matt Davidson and Christian Santana continue to wear the ball out. Davidson is hitting .314 in September after hitting .314 in August. His OPS is 1.047 during that time.
Christian Santana is a hitter that uses the middle of the field as well as any hitter in the organization at any level. Santana has been a very consistent hitter as well as he has hit above .300 in every month this year except June. All and all he is hitting .314 on the year for AAA OKC.
Sheldon Neuse made his return off of the IL and made an impact. Neuse went 5 for 9 in his first 2 games back and is hitting .287 with 13 homeruns on the year.
Up Next
Today the Dodgers start a 3 game series with the last place Arizona Diamondbacks. Clayton Kershaw is making his much anticipated return to LA and will be on a limited pitch count in his first start off of rehab.
After the 3 game series with Arizona, the Dodgers will get their first off day in 13 days before traveling to Cincinnati for a 3 game weekend series against the Reds. The series with the Reds will be packed with importance as both teams, both the Dodgers and the Reds, are currently in 2nd place in their Divisions. The Reds are tied with San Diego for the final Wild Card spot and the Dodgers are still chasing San Francisco.
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Nick Robertson: Velo and Versatility
Coming into 2021, the Dodgers had won the NL West 8 years in a row, were the defending World Champions and, despite injury after injury, made a valiant post-season run at a 2nd consecutive title this year. While many might write these accomplishments off as an over abundance of resources, it’s the Culture and player development that has created the consistency. It’s one thing to rent some players through Free Agency and the trade deadline and win for a year or 2, but it’s a whole different thing to create the consistency that the Dodgers have created year after year and up and down their system.
Culture
Having a farm system that is ranked as one of the best year in and year out, the Dodgers have built an elite system of progression for its players. The organization has specific skill sets that are targeted, then they develop their players as if through a formula. For example, Dodgers pitchers seemingly all throw high fastballs with high spin rate, a slider and a changeup. Offensive players are guys that grind pitch counts, hit homeruns and walk a lot. But, one part of the formula that doesn’t get enough notice is the Culture that the Dodgers have built. Not only do players need to fit a certain physical profile, it is equally as important that they fit into the culture the Dodgers have created as well. When the Dodgers drafted Nick Robertson in the 7th Round of the 2019 draft they knew they were getting a young prospect that checked all the boxes.Great Coaching
In his last year at James Madison, Robertson had an eye poppingly low 1.01 ERA, and, in that same year, his Redshirt Junior year, he also allowed just 16 hits and 4 earned runs in 35.2 innings of work. At 6’6 the hard throwing right hander certainly fit the mold physically and had shown in College that he had the potential to be dominant. The Dodgers also knew that not only did he have the potential to throw upper 90’s with his fastball, but his arm had also been well taken care of as well.After missing the 2017 season due to having Tommy John surgery, Robertson threw just 23 innings the next year in 2018 for James Madison, and, in total, in his last 2 years with the Dukes, despite being so dominant, only threw a total of 58.2 innings. Further, as much success as Robertson had in 2019 as a Duke, the most impressive stat, in my opinion, is the fact that he only threw 35.2 innings in total that year.
Being in the Coaching industry for 30 years, I have seen coaches that are what I call transactional. Meaning, they win at all costs, and many times, at the players expense. Robertson has had the great fortune of playing for coaches that saw his potential, put him in positions to succeed, and, most importantly, protected his arm. Looking back, it is something he is very thankful for.
“Yeah, so it started back in High School with coach Shelton. Coach Shelton, my High School coach, was a former Minor League player and he coached in College for a little while and he was always really bought in to making sure pitchers weren’t over used and keeping pitch counts low. And from there, going on to college, our college coaches were the same. Coach Ikenberry and Coach Jackson tried to get us to generate as much power and force as you can without creating much stress on the body and I think thats what’s helped me out there on the mound just repeating the same stuff over and over.”
James Madison had 4 pitchers drafted in 2019, including Robertson’s roommate Sheldon Perkins, Kevin Kelly and Dan Goggin, so the JMU coaches obviously are doing something right.
Motion
One of Robertson’s biggest strengths, in my opinion, is the repeatability of his motion he referenced earlier and the ease of which he is able to throw the ball with.
Robertson’s mechanics are so smooth that repeatability is and should continue to be a strength. It’s why he is known as a strike thrower that can generate power while creating a minimal amount of stress on his body. Here is Robertson throwing fastballs both down in the zone and up in the zone. Robertson sits 92-93 down in the zone and 95-96 up in the zone. He hit 100 miles per hour on the high fastball in this video and did so in a way that looked effortless.
Robertson has what I call easy power. He has a great motion and flexibility in his arm that creates a whip like effect in his release. That gives him velocity while not creating stress on his body.
3 Pitch Pitcher
As with most Dodger pitching prospects, not only is Robertson a big hard thrower, he also has 3 pitches he throws for strikes. As you saw, he can hit 100 mph with the fastball but sits 95-97. He also has a changeup and a slider.“Yeah, I throw a fastball, slider and changeup. You know, everyday you go out there you’re not going to have all 3 pitches working so you gotta figure out which ones are working that day and then you still have to be able to use your other pitch even if it’s not at its best.”
His slider can have 2 effects. It can be used as a “get me over” like you’ll see on the first pitch in the video to give him a high strike percentage pitch other than his fastball. He also can make the slider “bite” a little more when he is in a plus count and is trying to induce a swing and miss. You’ll see the “biting” slider on the 2nd pitch of the video.
Robertson does not feature a curve ball but that does not mean he doesn’t have a pitch with downward tilt. The tall Angular right hander throws a change up instead that he can get to tumble. In 2019, he worked with Jim Hickey in player development and changed his grip on his change up and it gave him a lot of confidence in the pitch. It’s a great pitch because it looks just like his fastball coming out of his hand to hitters and there is no signature spin for hitters to identify.
Robertson is good enough with his 3 pitches that putting him in a spot start role, combined with his relief duties is something he has done both in College and with the Dodgers. The big right hander made 1 start at James Madison and, also, in a separate appearance, threw 5 ⅔ innings against Northeastern. Earlier this year for AA Tulsa he opened a game as well and went 2 innings. When asked about the possibility of being a spot starter he said he’s open to any role that is needed and thinks there is potential but thinks he will mostly be a reliever.
“I think there is potential for it, I mean I’ve opened 1 game this year, I only went 2 innings, but, for the most part I think I’ll probably stay as a reliever but you never know
As mentioned earlier, the Dodgers have built a culture in their Minor League system that is very strong and very much an influence in their players development, and Robertson fits in perfectly. As passionate as the Callaway Virginia native and Franklin County graduate is about baseball, his best traits are the work he does off the field and in the Community. He did his part to beat cancer by getting donations for every strikeout he recorded during the month of September in 2021.
I’ve partnered up with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to go head2head vs. cancer. Help me raise money with every strikeout I make during the month of September. Visit this link to make a one time donation or a pledge per strikeout.
— Nicholas Robertson⚾️ (@nprobertson) August 14, 2021
Robertson enjoyed also the tight bond between he and his teammates at James Madison and is quick to mention how important team unity is.
“I really enjoyed going out each game and playing baseball with the guys. We were a tight group so we enjoyed the team part of it and we still keep up with each other when we can.”
Final Thoughts
The Dodgers have a seemingly endless supply of power arms, both as starters and relievers, so the Path to L.A. is going to be a competitive one. But the edge I think Robertson has is that he has already had his Tommy John surgery and has come back from it full blaze. So, his arm hasn’t been over worked and still has more innings left in it than other pitchers with similar age and experience. The other edge I think he has is that he is a strike thrower with 3 pitches. and provides versatility, and could end up as anything from a 1 inning set up man, to a 1 inning closer, to a long relief guy, or even as an opener like the Dodgers have used quite a bit. That versatility is a big benefit to a club when trying to manage a pitching staff over 162 games, and. it may, someday, make him a valuable piece to the Dodgers championship puzzle
